Group wants eye-blink testimony barred in OH trial

LISA CORNWELL
Associated PressPublished: January 4, 2013 12:31PM

CINCINNATI (AP) -- A national criminal justice organization is backing an Ohio murder suspect's renewed efforts to exclude a dying man's eye blinks allegedly identifying him as the gunman from his trial.

Ricardo Woods is to go on trial Monday in the October 2010 fatal shooting of 35-year-old David Chandler in Cincinnati. Chandler was shot in the head and neck as he sat in his car. He was paralyzed when police interviewed him days before his death and could only communicate by blinking.

The judge ruled jurors can see that videotaped interview.

Prosecutors say Chandler clearly identified 34-year-old Woods as the shooter. But the defense insists the identification is unreliable and wants the judge to reconsider.

The Innocence Project filed a motion last week supporting that request and offering research on eyewitness identification.